Epilogue
Everything was different now. Nathaniel Loring, once hailed as a national treasure, had been stripped of his glory and exposed for the fraud he truly was.
Meanwhile, Matilda Hartley, whose voice had been silenced for so long, was finally being celebrated.
Even though she was no longer here to see it, the world had caught up.
Matilda had become an icon in her own right, her name etched into the heart of music history where it had always belonged.
Tonight, the doors of the shop were wide open, and the entire community had turned out for a party like no other.
Fairy lights had been strung from one side of the street to the other and glowed like fireflies as laughter echoed in the air.
Fern, in a bright floral dress and white trainers, stood proudly in the doorway, Daniel’s hand tucked firmly in hers.
‘Everyone!’ she shouted over the buzz of excitement. ‘Shush now, we’re nearly at number one!’
People giggled and hushed each other. Glasses of prosecco were passed around. Clemmie and Betty had laid out a full street buffet, with sausage rolls, fairy cakes, mini quiches and jelly in plastic cups. Amelia and Dilly were weaving through the crowd, handing out cups of fizz and lemonade.
Edgar and Dorothy stood beside Fern and Daniel, beaming. ‘I wish Matilda was here to see this,’ said Dorothy.
‘She never missed a good party. She’ll be smiling down on us.’ Edgar looked up at the sky and Fern could have sworn she saw a tear in his eye.
‘I have to ask, something that’s been on my mind. Why did Matilda call this place No.17 Curiosity Lane? Fern asked.
‘Because when she first put the shop together, she filled it with curiosities, antiques, oddities, little treasures she couldn’t resist. And then there’s the location: the building backs onto a quiet, unnamed alley that reminded her of the hidden places she used to slip away to after her fall from the music world, little pockets full of silence, stories and second chances.
The “17” came from the practice room she’d spent hours in as a student – Room 17 – the place where she still remembered what it felt like to believe in beginnings,’ replied Edgar.
Just then from the speaker in the doorway, the live chart show was blasting. The DJ’s voice rang out: ‘At number two this week, after a phenomenal climb, it’s Lust Theory with “Marriage Breakdown”.’
Fern grinned and leaned over to Daniel. ‘Looks like Jax is going to have to settle for silver and a divorce.’
Daniel chuckled, brushing a kiss against her temple.
‘Which means,’ the DJ continued, ‘your brand-new number one … it’s Daniel Brooks with “A New Chapter”, written by Matilda Hartley!
I think we all must know the story behind this song.
Congratulations to Daniel on his debut number one and don’t miss the show next Thursday when he joins us live in the studio. ’
The crowd erupted and applause and cheers broke out up and down the street. ‘Huge congratulations to Daniel, number one in the charts! This is for Matilda, too!’ Fern shouted. ‘Her story. Her legacy. Her music!’
Tears filled her eyes, and Daniel’s too. They weren’t just celebrating a song. They were celebrating a woman who had been silenced and stolen from, and now finally, the world knew the truth.
Over the past year, the Nathaniel Loring scandal had become one of the biggest ever to hit the music industry. Loring’s money and assets had been frozen during the lengthy investigation, and Alistair had disappeared from public life.
Despite the chaos, Daniel had made a decision. ‘If anything ever comes from this, if we do get any of Nathaniel’s inheritance,’ he had told Fern, months earlier, ‘I want to build something good from it. Something Matilda would be proud of.’
They’d agreed to open a music school in Matilda Hartley’s name, right here on Puffin Island.
For the past six months, Daniel had thrown himself into learning the piano, often spending hours in the back room of the shop.
He’d never imagined himself performing publicly, but then a record label had approached him with a dream offer, to release one of Matilda’s songs, and he chose the one she had written for his father.
He sang it simply, just his voice and the piano, and something about it had captured hearts around the world.
‘I’m actually at number one,’ he exclaimed, picking up Fern and spinning her around. ‘We need champagne!’
The song began to play over the speakers, and the crowd went quiet.
Fern looked up at him. ‘I’m so proud of you.’
Daniel blinked back tears. ‘Thank you. I’m proud of you, too.’
After the final notes faded, the applause came again, louder this time, and the celebrations carried on. ‘Just before I get the champagne, I have one last surprise for you. Wait here.’
She left Daniel wondering where she was disappearing to. He burst into laughter when she returned – holding Gerald the Gorilla. ‘I couldn’t let him go. He’s worth more than a hundred quid, he’s family!’ she claimed, sitting him in a nearby chair.
Daniel grinned, pulling her into his arms. They stood in the doorway of No.
17 Curiosity Lane, the little shop that had once held so many secrets, and now so much promise, and they watched the people they loved celebrating not just them but everything they’d uncovered, everything they’d reclaimed, everything they’d rebuilt.
There was Amelia from The Story Shop, waving a homemade banner with one hand and holding a glass of fizz in the other, shouting something joyful and completely unintelligible.
Becca from the Cosy Kettle was dancing with a cupcake in each hand, while Clemmie and Betty from The Café on the Coast had taken it one step further, linking arms and waltzing in the middle of the street.
Betty’s apron was flapping in the breeze and Clemmie was laughing so hard she nearly dropped her wine.
Dilly from the lighthouse had brought sparklers and was trying to light them despite the sea breeze, while veterinary wizard Verity had tears in her eyes and her arms around Sam, her partner and the chef genius behind the Sea Glass Restaurant, who was already planning a celebratory tasting menu in Daniel’s honour.
And of course, Puffin-loving Pete, in his usual knitted jumper and an expression of quiet pride, stood off to the side with a beer in hand and a camera slung round his neck, ready to capture the moment for posterity.
Fern looked at them all, this warm, wonderful group of people she hadn’t known just a year ago, and now couldn’t imagine life without. They weren’t just neighbours. They were her people.
‘This…’ Fern whispered, resting her head against his shoulder, ‘this feels like forever.’
He kissed the top of her head. ‘That’s because it is.’
The sign above them swung gently in the breeze, catching the golden glow of the fairy lights strung across the street. Children danced on the cobbles, neighbours toasted with prosecco, and Gerald the Gorilla was now wearing a party hat and being fussed over like royalty.
Together, Fern and Daniel had turned heartbreak into hope, secrets into truth and music into something magical once more. A new chapter had truly begun, not just for the shop, or the island, or the story of a song that had been stolen, but for them and their future.
From the very first time she’d stepped through the creaky old door of No. 17 Curiosity Lane, Fern realised, she had known in her heart: this was exactly where she was meant to be.
i hope you enjoyed No. 17 Curiosity Lane!