The Map of Chaos (79 page)

She opened her eyes. Her reflection was still shimmering on the water, but behind her, a few feet away . . . His suit was torn in several places and had bloodstains on the shoulder, as though after dying in the accident his first thought had been to come and find her, without stopping to change. She didn't turn round. She doubted he was real, convinced that she had finally lost her mind. Until he spoke.

“Hello, Miss Mournful. I told you I'd be back.”

Emma gritted her teeth and felt her heart leap.

“And I've been waiting for you, Mr. Impossible,” she replied.

Then she wheeled round, and their eyes locked.

“You're late,” she reproached him.

He raised his eyebrows.

“Er, forgive me, but . . . ,” he stammered in apology. “I was helping to save the world.”

She smiled and stepped forward, lips parted, those lips that believed they would never kiss anyone again. And the whole world was reduced to the precise length of each moment that separated them.

Little did I know that when I wrote the first word of this trilogy, more than six hundred thousand would follow. Seven years devoted to this project, including the latest book, dear reader, which you have just finished. If your patience allows, I would like to devote a few more words to thank you for having accompanied me on this long adventure. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

This journey would not have been possible without the help of some wonderful people: my publisher, Judith Curr, and editor, Johanna Castillo, along with the entire team at Atria Books in New York, and my agents, Tom and Elaine Colchie, whose enthusiasm for my work is priceless.

As I've said before, only geniuses are capable of writing novels without help. The rest of us need someone who can look at it from the outside while we are writing, to let us know whenever we have lost sight of our goal. In my case, my friend and colleague Lorenzo Luengo acted as a lookout during this journey, and I can never thank him enough for his enthusiasm.

But this titanic project would not have come to fruition without the compass of my own discerning Jane, who hides behind the initials M.J. She has been my muse for all this time, and she took her job so seriously that she didn't just inspire me but whispered many of these pages in my ear. Without her, this book would not only have been a very different one, but it might not even exist. I can only thank her and put here in writing that I cannot imagine a more exciting adventure than loving her every day.

I also want to thank Alex for being the teenager and son I would have liked to be.

It would be impolite if I did not include in my thanks the master H. G. Wells, who started as one of my favorite writers and, after seven years of living together, ended up becoming a brother. Thank you, Bertie, for your novels that inspire the imagination of many readers, including one who now writes the last word of this trilogy and who owes you so much.

Given the many twists and turns of the plot and the numerous characters in this novel, I feel obliged to provide my kind readers with a list of those who are most important. In strict order of appearance, this is as follows:

Observer Wells: Eminent biologist, an alternative version of the author H. G. Wells in a parallel world.

Observer Jane: Observer Wells's spouse, project director in Wells's laboratory, an alternative version of Amy Catherine Robbins in a parallel world.

Observer Dodgson: Professor of mathematics, an alternative version of the author Lewis Carroll in a parallel world.

Newton: A Border Collie used by Observer Wells in his experiments.

Herbert George Wells: A British author more commonly known as H. G. Wells, considered the father of science fiction. Among other books, he wrote
The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds,
and
The Invisible Man.
For anyone who has read those three novels, I need add nothing more, except perhaps that in 1970 Wells had a lunar impact crater named after him.

Amy Catherine Robbins: The author H. G. Wells's spouse, whom he affectionately nicknamed “Jane.”

Cornelius Clayton: An inspector with Scotland Yard's Special Branch, responsible for investigating the supernatural. Since losing his left hand on his first mission he has used an elaborate wood and metal prosthesis.

Angus Sinclair: Captain at Scotland Yard's Special Branch. No one knows how he lost his right eye, so an accident with a pair of tweezers cannot be ruled out.

Valerie de Bompard: A beautiful French countess residing in the accursed village of Blackmoor, and Inspector Clayton's love interest.

Armand de Bompard: Husband of the Countess de Bompard, a scientist ahead of his time.

Muscardinus avellanarius
: Also known as the hazel dormouse, a species native to the British Isles.

Madame Amber: A famous medium from London, specialist in ectoplasmic materializations.

Sir Henry Blendell: Architect to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, creator of the most celebrated secret passageways and trick furniture in history, a man of outstanding moral virtue until proven otherwise.

Theodore Ramsey: Surgeon, chemist, and eminent biologist, given to cracking his knuckles.

Sir William Crookes: Well-known scientist and investigator of paranormal phenomena. Renowned for his defense of the medium Florence Cook, who communicated with the spirit of Katie King, daughter of the legendary pirate Henry Morgan.

Catherine Lansbury: An elderly lady with a mysterious past, a widow with an interest in spiritualism, inventor of the Mechanical Servant, who has a penchant for Kemp's biscuits.

The Invisible Man: The villain of the piece, a ruthless killer who is known as M.

Clive Higgins: Doctor of neurology, psychoanalysis, and other afflictions of the soul.

Gilliam Murray: Known as the Master of Time, who died in the fourth dimension. From then on poses as the millionaire Montgomery Gilmore, who suffers from vertigo.

Emma Harlow: A young lady from New York, engaged to Gilmore, who refuses to be wooed as other women are.

Dorothy Harlow: Emma's aunt, an embittered old maid, condemned to die alone.

Baskerville: Gilmore's coachman, who is at least eighty and has a phobia about dogs.

Arthur Conan Doyle: Scottish physician and author, adept of spiritualism and allegedly telepathic, famous for being the creator of Sherlock Holmes, the most renowned detective in the world.

Jean Leckie: Arthur Conan Doyle's lover.

Executioner 2087V: A cyber creature programmed to kill anyone who has the ability to jump between worlds. Efficient at his job but suffers from overwhelming feelings of guilt owing to a design defect.

Cleeve: Head butler at Undershaw. Nothing is known about his private life.

Alfred Wood: Alias “Woodie,” stoic personal secretary to Arthur Conan Doyle and a more than decent cricketer.

The Great Ankoma: Also known as Amoka or Makoma; a fabulous medium brought up in South Africa by a Bantu tribe, and who specializes in automatic writing. His name, when pronounced correctly, translates as “last-born child,” although we cannot be sure of this.

Alice Liddell: A six-year-old girl, one of Dean Liddell's three daughters, and the real-life inspiration for Alice in
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Lewis Carroll: Pseudonym of the British author Charles Dodgson, who wrote
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
and its sequel,
Through the Looking Glass.
He also published numerous articles and books on mathematics under his real name, and was a prominent photographer and a harmless dreamer with a charming stutter. For reasons unknown, he refused to be ordained a priest while a professor at Christ Church, Oxford.

Elmer: Gilmore's butler, happily married to Daisy, who is addicted to blueberry muffins.

Eric Rücker Eddison: British author known chiefly for his first novel,
The Worm Ouroboros,
an homage to Norse mythology. Many scholars consider this work as paving the way for modern fantasy fiction.

The Map of Chaos
: A book containing the key to saving this and all other worlds imaginable.

ALSO BY FÉLIX J. PALMA

The Map of Time

The Map of the Sky

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.