9 #2
I’m about to ask him more, but I spy a large group of overseas students crossing the street and heading in the direction of the shop. ‘You’d best get inside before this lot are queuing out of the door,’ I tell him, looking over his shoulder.
‘I had indeed,’ Ben says, turning and seeing them too. ‘I’ll see you soon, my dear.’
I take a wide berth around the students and walk back towards the shop.
Cambridge is always heaving with people on a Saturday, but now the peak of the summer is fast approaching, the streets around the university part of the town will be packed, not only with tourists, but by many students from overseas, here for the summer to better their English.
Gradually, they will replace the university students as graduation ceremonies take place and the streets are filled with graduates wearing mortar boards and gowns, alongside their proud families and friends.
Summer in Cambridge is always hectic and busy, so as I return to Clockmaker Court, the change in both the level of noise, the amount of people, and also the temperature, is like transitioning into a different world.
I liken it to visiting a cathedral in the centre of a busy city.
Outside is all hustle, bustle and noise, while inside is peaceful, calm and cool.
As I head to the centre of Clockmaker Court, to a little grassed area with a wooden bench surrounded by black railings, I pass both my shop and Adam’s.
In Rainy Day Antiques, Barney is with a customer, but he lifts his hand and waves as I pass, and in the bookshop, Adam is standing up and stretching as I pass his window. He gestures that he will see me over at the bench in a moment.
I enter the little garden and sit in the cool shade of the large oak tree that grows in the centre of the court, happily sipping on my coffee while I look around at everyone in their shops.
Luca has a couple of customers in his shop right now looking at some of his vintage jewellery.
Orla is showing a customer her range of dreamcatchers, and I can see Rocky take money from a couple who leave his shop looking pleased with whatever is in their white paper bag – no doubt something delicious for their lunch.
Harriet appears, looking every inch the old-fashioned waitress as she clears one of the little tables that they have outside their shop in the warmer months.
She’s wearing the black dress, white frilly apron and little white hat she always does when she’s waiting tables.
She sees me watching her and waves, so I hurriedly try to hide the coffees – all too obvious where they have come from in their unique turquoise paper cups.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Harriet calls good-naturedly as she loads empty glasses and plates onto her tray. ‘I know Adam is partial to a Chelsea bun or two. I’ll let you off this time.’
‘How do you know they’re for Adam?’ I ask, relieved she’s not upset we haven’t bought lunch from her shop today.
I do occasionally, but Harriet and Rocky specialise in old-fashioned baking in their vintage tea room, with cakes and recipes from the past. It is quite unique in Cambridge and the tourists love it.
It is the sort of place you go for a treat or a special occasion, not everyday for lunch.
Harriet looks surprised. ‘Who else would you have bought lunch for? I know the two of you like to lunch together when you can.’ She gives me a knowing look.
‘It’s not that often,’ I say hurriedly. ‘I was just popping out and offered to pick something up for him, that’s all.’
Harriet nods. ‘Yes, of course, dear. It must be nice for you now he’s moved in properly.’ She lifts her tray. ‘Now you can eat lunch together every day!’
I watch her head back into the tea room and I shake my head. Typical! When I visit a rival bakery to buy Adam his lunch, it’s perfectly acceptable. If I went to Fitzbillies just for me, Harriet likely wouldn’t have spoken to me for a week!
When I first told the other shop owners that Adam was going to be taking over the bookshop, they were all delighted. Adam was welcomed into Clockmaker Court like a long-lost family member returning to take over the family business.
‘Uh-oh, did Harriet spot you’d been to Fitzbillies?’ Adam asks as he sits down next to me on the bench. ‘I saw her talking to you just now.’
‘Yes, but she was fine about it.’ I hand Adam his coffee. ‘Luckily it was for you, otherwise I’d have been in the mire.’
‘You do yourself an injustice. Everyone thinks the world of you here.’
I’m touched, but a little embarrassed by his kind words.
‘Perhaps. But somehow you seem to get away with more. Tell me, how do you do that? I’ve been here for years and it took ages for them to fully accept me running my grandparents’ shop, yet you waltz in as a newcomer and everyone loves you immediately. ’
Adam grins. ‘My charm and good looks, obviously!’
‘ Obviously everyone else is seeing something I’m not, then!’ I take a sip of my coffee.
‘Ha ha, touché! Seriously, though, I know I haven’t opened yet, but I really am so pleased I made the decision to come here,’ he says, taking in the buildings around him.
‘Everyone has been so welcoming to me. It feels like a whole new beginning, like I’m moving on to the next stage of my life.
I think my grandfather would have been proud this is what I’m doing with my inheritance. ’
‘I think you’re right – he would be very proud.’ I put my coffee down on the bench between us. ‘Talking of your grandfather, I saw Ben when I was getting lunch. He’s much better now and he’s coming back to his shop soon.’
‘Great, that’s good to know.’
‘I told him we wanted to have a little chat with him about those photos we found when he is back.’
‘What did he say?’
‘Not a lot, but then Ben never does.’
‘Good,’ Adam says, nodding. ‘It would be great if he knew how Dotty and Archie knew each other. Is it all right if I have my bun now?’ he asks, sounding like a little boy asking for his sweeties.
‘Of course.’ I take a bun myself before handing him the bag.
Adam takes a bite of his Chelsea bun. While he happily munches on the sweet fruit-filled cake, he looks around Clockmaker Court.
‘Have you ever noticed the buildings are a little odd here?’ he asks in between mouthfuls.
‘In what way?’
‘Well, why isn’t there a number seven?’
‘What do you mean, there isn’t a seven? Your shop is number seven, isn’t it?’
‘No, I’m number eight.’
‘Are you sure?’ I ask, looking over to Adam’s shop. ‘I always thought the bookshop was seven.’
‘Of course I’m sure. I’ve just bought the building. It says it’s eight Clockmaker Court in all the paperwork. I only knew yours was number six because I picked up some post for you one day from Orla’s.’
Over time, many of the buildings within Clockmaker Court have been split into flats and shops, making delivering letters and parcels a bit of a nightmare.
So, instead, any deliveries are now always left at one of the shops at the entrance to the close, and every day we all take it in turns to collect each other’s mail and deliver it around the court.
I look at the buildings that surround us. ‘There must be twelve buildings – it begins at number one and ends at number twelve over there where the solicitors’ is.’
‘Weird, isn’t it,’ Adam says, finishing off his bun. ‘I just wondered if you knew why?’
I look around at the buildings again and begin to count them. ‘There’s only eleven buildings here!’ Finding this hard to believe, I count them again just to be sure.
‘Is there?’ Adam asks, finishing off his coffee. ‘That’s odd. Why is it called Clockmaker Court then, if it doesn’t have twelve buildings? I’d have thought that was a given.’
‘Me too. I can’t believe I’ve never noticed it myself. I know we all have shop names we go by, because of the buildings being split now it just seemed easier. But I always just assumed there were twelve.’
‘The buildings are pretty old, and they’re all different shapes and sizes; it’s not surprising you didn’t notice. I just thought it was odd there wasn’t a seven.’
‘Yes …’ I look back at our two shops that stand side by side. ‘You know, it’s funny, when I was younger, I always wondered why Rainy Day Antiques wasn’t bigger inside.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Look at it. On the outside of our shops, we both have a door and one window.’
Adam turns to look. ‘Yes, like most of the shops here.’
‘But in between there’s that large bit of wall.’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘So, it follows that one or both of us should have a similar amount of space inside our shops that equates to that wall space.’
‘I suppose.’
‘Do you have that amount of space in your shop?’
‘Er … no, I don’t think so. The inside wall of the shop runs fairly close to the doorway.’
‘If you look in my shop, you’ll find the same. Where the window ends is where the interior wall of the shop runs. It’s the wall where I have those shelves with the vintage toys on.’
Adam looks at the wall that runs between our two shops, then he looks at all the other buildings in the court. ‘All the other buildings sit really close to each other, don’t they?’
‘Exactly. When these buildings were originally built, there wouldn’t have been the luxury of spacing them out; they were all built close together to utilise space to the max.’
‘So, if the space isn’t in your shop, and it’s not in mine, then what exactly is behind that brick wall?’