Chapter 10
Gideon hadn’t slept well. He’d had murky, disturbing dreams about a tiny flying man, an angry dog, and an unfixable clock that kept chiming the hour despite being in pieces on his workbench.
Every attempt he’d made to fix it had resulted in further damage. The flying man had laughed, and the angry dog had done nothing but bark.
Because of all that, Gideon’s mood was darker than usual. A run would help. It would have to. It was all he had. Dawn had not yet arrived as he hit the pavement, the sound of his running shoes barely audible above the hum of insects and birds waking up.
The perpetual clouds of Shadowvale had not yet covered the sky. Here and there, a few fading stars were still visible. He breathed deeply, the air clean and fresh, the gift of not being closed in by gloom lighting his disposition.
The memory of the dream receded. He focused on the day ahead.
He would assess the works of the music box and determine how extensive a repair it was.
He’d come up with a price for Sabrina. And he would tell her about his curse, just in case she was foolish enough to think he was relationship material.
He dreaded that more than anything. Dreaded that it needed to be done. That he would have to reveal how broken he was. That inevitably, she would pity him. And that afterwards, she would never look at him the same way again.
Making it worse was that the angry dog and the chiming clock had not been the only things he’d dreamed about. There had been another dream. A brief vision of himself as normal and Sabrina was at his side and he—they were happy. A couple.
He had no right to a dream like that. She’d shown no interest in him as anything but a means to an end. She needed his help. That was all. The dream was only because Korrin had stirred things up. All because that needy sprite had said Sabrina liked Gideon.
What did that loathsome creature know? He’d been stuck inside a music box for the last eighty-five years.
Gideon knew the sprite’s words were a lie. And yet, what if they weren’t? What if she thought there might be a chance of something between them?
This was why he had to tell her about his curse. Or at least tell her enough so that she’d understand he had to be alone.
Either way, it was going to be an unpleasant conversation.
He ran on, trying to work out the words in his head, keeping to his usual route, and finally returning home.
He did some pushups, took his shower, got ready, and left.
Outside of breaking the cap on his shampoo bottle, his toothbrush losing several bristles, and having to replace the battery in a smoke detector that suddenly decided to go off, it was an uneventful morning.
He arrived at his shop but paused in front of Sabrina’s to look through the windows at the store inside.
He put his hand up to see better. The store was decently stocked with shelves of knickknacks, stuffed animals, kitchenware, lamps, various pieces of furniture, chairs, framed mirrors and pictures, games, books, all sorts of things.
It looked like the kind of place that ought to be filled with people. The antique stores in town did well; why shouldn’t she?
Her things weren’t antiques, however. Maybe that had something to do with it?
He didn’t have time to dwell. He had a delivery to make. He was going to return Stella Kittridge’s wristwatch, which had needed a cleaning and retiming. He’d also polished the crystal to remove a few minor scratches and repainted two of the numbers that had faded.
He opened his shop, ordered his breakfast, made a pot of coffee, and as soon as that was ready, had a cup. He had a second cup with his breakfast when it arrived.
The Bargain Bin would be open in a few minutes.
He took Stella’s watch out of the repair envelope and moved it to a small plastic bag, then tucked it into his pocket. He turned the coffee maker off, hung up a sign that said he’d return shortly, and headed out.
He walked because he liked to walk, it was good exercise, and driving a car carried too many risks for a cursed man.
More people were out now. On his run, he’d seen no one. Now he counted three people walking dogs, one of which licked his hand as it passed, making him wonder again if there was any way a dog might be possible. He saw a few other runners, two people biking, and one young man on a skateboard.
He was rarely out at this time of day. Generally, he was at his workbench, repairing something.
And while clouds kept the sun from shining, it was still fairly bright. The Bargain Bin was just up ahead, and someone inside was flipping the sign to OPEN. His timing was impeccable.
He went inside.
Stella was behind the counter, sorting through a box. “Morning, Gideon.”
“Good morning, Stella. I brought your watch.” He took it from his pocket. “Working like new.”
“And looking like new! Thank you. How much do I owe you?” She opened the bag and put the watch on, admiring it. “It looks so good. I really appreciate this.”
“You’re welcome. It’s a hundred and fifty.” For anyone else, it would have been two hundred.
“Just a second.” She got her wallet out of her purse and counted out cash. “Hmm. I only have a hundred and forty on me. Any chance you want to browse around for ten dollars’ worth of stuff?”
“All right.” Most of his clothing came from this store anyway. It wasn’t practical to buy new when his things would only end up ripped, stained, or eventually somehow destroyed in the wash. Even one of his suits that had been sent out to the dry cleaners had mysteriously come back with faded spots.
He looked through the men’s racks. He favored dark colors. They hid the inevitable stains and spills better than light ones did. They also brought him no attention. Finally, he shook his head. “I don’t see anything. We can just call it even.”
Stella sent him work at least once a week, mostly watches that came in and needed some TLC. He didn’t mind giving her more of a break than he already had.
“Hang on,” she said. “We just got some men’s things in.” She disappeared into the back room and came out with a light blue dress shirt and matching V-neck sweater. “How about these? They’re your size.”
They also looked new. He frowned as he touched the sweater. It was thin but incredibly soft. “Wouldn’t those be more like ten dollars each?”
“Not in this store.” She pushed them into his hands. “Go on, take them. I know you didn’t charge me full price on that watch anyway. Now we’re even.”
“Stella—”
“Nope. They’re yours.” She gave him a big smile and a wink.
“Thank you.” He’d never wear them. His curse would ruin them in minutes. “Have a good day.”
“You too.”
He made his way back to the shop. There was no one at the door, not that he’d expected there to be. He went inside and turned the coffeepot back on. He touched the carafe. Still plenty warm.
He tucked the sweater and shirt onto a shelf, refilled his coffee cup, put on his magnifying glasses, and got to work on Amelia’s music box.
The individual pieces were as beautiful as the whole, but being Blaise Bontems work, that was no surprise.
As he disassembled the mechanics, he thought about the day Bontems had put them together.
He saw no sign that anyone had ever done anything to them previously, so he could only assume he was the first to do this.
The first to touch this amazing piece of machinery since Bontems himself.
It was humbling and thrilling at the same time, something Gideon was sure no one other than another horologist or machinist would understand.
As he worked, he understood why the music box wasn’t working.
The problem was merely one of age and disuse.
There were some small signs of corrosion.
The oil that had once lubricated the mechanics had gotten gummy from time and dust. Each piece would need to be cleaned and reoiled.
It was a common problem with old motors like this.
The good news was it wouldn’t be nearly as expensive as if he had to hand-make new gears or a drum or any other part.
The bad news was how labor-intensive such a job was. As he calculated his time to do the work so that he could give Sabrina a price, he reached for his coffee. She’d be here soon. Probably within a few minutes.
The mug’s handle slipped from his grip and fell over, drenching himself and his workbench.
He sighed as he stood up. Spills were nothing new. He got to work cleaning, hoping to be done before Sabrina arrived.