Mina was under the bakery awning, shaking flour off a tray of little lemon buns when she noticed something odd. The tiny brass bells hanging by the door were chiming on the wrong beat. Not loud, not broken—just lopsided, as if the lane had taken a breath and forgotten how to let it out. Mina looked up and saw Tilo in the square at the far end of Peppercup Passage, standing beside the drinking pump with both hands on a brass pocket watch. He was frowning at the little watch as if it had misbehaved.
Pippa the tabby cat was already halfway across the lane, her kinked tail high, because the sound had made her think someone was clapping for her. She trotted straight toward the clock repair shop, then stopped and pricked her ears at a flutter of paper on the pavement. The paper was a folded notice with Tilo’s careful handwriting, and it had slipped from his pocket near the steps.
Mina knew that look on Tilo’s face. Something he had promised was not going the way he expected. She picked up the notice, but before she could call out, the bells gave one more uneven chime and Pippa darted after the paper. Tilo turned, saw the cat, and said, "Not that one, Pippa. Please not that one." Mina held the notice in one hand and looked from Tilo to the shop door to the little square. One path led to Tilo, one to the shop, and one toward the square where Pippa had already gone. Which one should she choose?
What happens next?
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