The carriage squeals to a stop in front of the watch shop. The enforcer hops out of the seat next to the driver and places a step in front of the carriage door. Ru steps out first to check the surroundings, and satisfied, opens the door to the watch shop. Perrin and Fr. Berman help Ada down and enter the shop with Ru at the door, while Torhan, Darian, and Abass exit the carriage and look down the street back to the square.
The facade of the store itself has a hanging sign of a watch, and the window display shows a large assortment of watches and clocks in brass, bronze, and silver. A piebald wooden doll moves slowly to gesture at the watches while a small wooden dog moves its head back and forth and wags its tail.
Inside, the walls seem to move. They are covered in clocks, with pendulums swaying, tiny figures peeping in and out of doors, and governors whirl in time. The room is filled with the sounds of ticking in a steady rhythm. Behind a small counter, a figure pops up. "Adalavas!" he calls out, as he rushed to meet Ada.
The gnome gentleman is dressed in a leather worker's apron over a white tunic and black breeches. His mask is brass, with his visage framed by slowly moving gears, powering a small pair of brass feathered wings. An eyepiece is carefully and automatically moved out of the way of his face.
Ada looks at her father, tears running down the butterfly. She stares closely at him a moment as he reaches out for her, then lowers her gaze, clutching herself. "Hello, father."
Ada's father looks at her a moment, and tenderly replies, "It's all right, spring. You're home, now." Ada quickly raises her eyes to meet her father's, then collapses, heaving, in his arms. Her father looks up to the large policemen that have entered with her, and nods his head. "Go on back and wash up. Just rest." Ada staggers back behind the counter and descends some stairs in the back of the shop.
Her father looks up at Ru, Perrin, and Fr. Berman, towering over him and filling the room almost to the ceiling. "Hello, officers. My name is Pigglemorth ba Farblegone. What has happened to my daughter?"
