‘That was you in the bar? I thought I’d imagined it.’

‘It was indeed.’ He wrinkles his nose slightly. ‘I was glad to get out of there, truth be told. The smell of sambuca was overpowering.’

‘I can’t believe this,’ I murmur.

There’s something so familiar about him. Something I can’t quite put my finger on.

‘So … you remember meeting me in that pub on Christmas Eve?’ I ask.

‘Oh yes. Christmas Eve 2020.’

‘But that hasn’t happened yet,’ I hiss. ‘That’s fourteen years from now!’

‘Mmm. It is indeed.’ He pops a chestnut in his mouth and chews thoughtfully. ‘Needs more salt.’

I take a deep breath and try to compose myself. ‘Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but would you mind please just telling me what is happening?’

The old man purses his lips as he sprinkles salt over the chestnuts. ‘I noticed you were at something of a crossroads that night in the pub. You were feeling lost and confused. And I wanted to help.’

‘Right. And your method of helping was to give me a time-travelling watch?’

‘That’s about the long and short of it.’ He grins and taps the grill with his spoon. ‘Did you want a chestnut?’

I exhale and squeeze the bridge of my nose. ‘What happens if I eat one? Do I get whisked back to the Renaissance or something?’

He bursts out laughing. ‘The Renaissance! Very good. No, these are just your average common-or-garden chestnuts. Well, above average, actually. Extremely tasty, in fact.’ He holds one up to me, but I shake my head. ‘Suit yourself,’ he shrugs. ‘I’m sure you’re full of questions and we haven’t got long. So, fire away.’

That ‘haven’t got long’ remark makes me think of the time frozen on my watch. I hold it up to him. ‘Why is it stuck at one minute to twelve?’

A crumpled smile cuts through his scruffy beard, and his blue eyes sparkle at me. ‘I think you’ve already worked that out, haven’t you?’

‘Because one minute to midnight is when my time here is up?’ I say, slowly. ‘It’s when I … jump again?’

The old man beams and nods, like a teacher who’s just coaxed the correct answer out of a particularly dim student.

‘So, I will jump again, then?’ I ask him.

‘It’s highly likely.’

‘Where to?’

The old man sighs. ‘That, I can’t tell you.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because you already know the answer.’

‘Trust me, I don’t.’

He jabs at the chestnuts with his spoon. ‘I’m confident it will come to you.’

I lean my head back in frustration. ‘Look … I get that being vague and mysterious is sort of your thing. But I could really do with some proper, concrete answers right now.’