No. 17 Curiosity Lane (Puffin Island #5)

Prologue

Matilda Hartley knew she was dying. She had known for some time now, alerted by the weariness in her bones, the breathlessness that came too easily and the way the world around her had begun to slip into a gentle haze.

But at eighty-five, she could not complain.

Life had been long, rich and, in many ways, full.

Yet she knew there were some wounds that had never healed.

Fern likely had no idea Matilda even existed. They’d been strangers all their lives, with Matilda estranged from her family for what felt like for ever. Still, Fern had been going through life unaware that, somewhere in the background, an old woman had been quietly watching over her all along.

Matilda had long ago accepted that there would never be any family reconciliation, and now her sister had passed away, there was no chance.

But Fern was different. Hopefully, she had not been poisoned by the events of the past, and didn’t know anything about the lies.

Hopefully, her innocence would help her to uncover the truth.

Matilda traced a finger along the edge of the vinyl record she held in her hands.

The label bore a name that everyone knew, a name that should have been hers.

Beside it sat the music box, its ornate carvings delicate yet sturdy, a relic of a secret so long buried that only two men alive still knew its weight.

She exhaled. The past had done its best to bury her, but now, with the end in sight, she wasn’t about to go quietly.

Sixty-five years ago, she’d gone to her family looking for help, hoping for some kind of justice.

Instead, they’d looked at her with cold eyes and shut the door.

They didn’t believe her. Worse still, her sister turned on her, whispering that she was merely jealous, and losing her mind.

She had lost everything that day.

Her family. Her reputation. Her name.

Yet, decades later, she still held the key to the truth. But time was running out.

Matilda looked around the shop and stared at all the oddities and artefacts she had gathered over a lifetime.

She had spent years crafting this place into a sanctuary for lost things and forgotten stories.

Perhaps, if fate willed it, Fern would find the truth Matilda had so carefully buried in the shop, knowing it was the only thing that could change history.