The Joshua Files - a complete box set: Books 1-5 of the young adult sci-fi adventure series plus techno-thriller prequel
Page 159
“What about me? Will I time travel again?” I think silently of Bosch’s comment in his letter to me: All I know, tjommie, is that you and I will meet again. Can’t tell you when and where, but we do.
Was Bosch referring to meeting Arcadio? Had he seen the resemblance between us? I couldn’t tell what answer I wanted to hear. Did I want Blanco to reassure me that I’d be staying in my own time? Or was some part of me hoping that Bosch’s prediction would come true?
Blanco’s smile widens. “I have no memory of meeting you in any other time but this. My dear twin, I’d deduce that from this point, your future is a blank slate.”
BLOG ENTRY –THE WORLD-DIDN’T-END PARTY
Midnight came and went and the world didn’t end.
I received an email from Dr Banerjee a few minutes after midnight.
Hey Josh Garcia,
I’ve been thinking about you, what with it being the end of the world and whatnot.
I don’t know how you did it, kiddo, but you did it. I’m guessing you time-traveller types are secretive about your methods. If you ever feel the need to share a little, like how that thing on the moon actually works, where it came from, how you do the time-travel thing, I hope you won’t forget your friend down in Telescope Country. Anything, really, would be a bonus. And I’d be up for keeping your secret too. Seriously, I’m just curious.
Cheers,
R.M. Banerjee
P.S. Still reading your blog, btw. Intriguing. I sense you’ve missed out (or password-protected?) the best stuff, though. Too bad for me! But I guess you’ve got better things to do with your time than entertaining a scientist while she looks at the night sky. By the way, did you hear the news about the Futurology Institute? It’s just had the official opening! Wonder what new plans your “Sect” has now. . .?
I check on the Internet and see that she’s right. The building has been completed in record time. Bit of a disappointment for the Sect of Huracan, the way things turned out. But no one should underestimate them. People with power, money and influence don’t let go of their ambitions easily. And the Sect has set their aims pretty high.
Blanco Vigores and I returned to the others. I left them celebrating, walked through the deserted backstreets of Tlacotalpan. Music was everywhere, and the hum of excited voices, the clink of glasses from each old house.
I strolled back to the riverbank and stood at the edge, staring into water as dark as that in the black cenote of Ek Naab. All the time I’ve spent gazing into that black mirror – it would add up to days by now. It’s as though the answers to everything could be found in the pool’s reflection. Yet I never could discover anything new.
A stray firework was released somewhere in the square. A green and blue chrysanthemum of sparks burst overhead, every detail reflected in the river.
I heard a voice next to me and turned around. It was Ixchel, watching me watching the water. She was smiling as if she wasn’t sure of herself for once, as though she might be intruding. She wasn’t, though; of course not. I took her arm and guided her to stand next to me at the water’s edge.
“I’ve finally figured it out,” I whispered. “The water tells the future.”
“It does?”
“Yes,” I said and I pointed into the river. “The only part of the future I know, the only thing I’m sure about.”
“And what is it?” she asked, still gazing at me. Until I made her look. Until we were both staring at our reflection, side by side in the water.
When she got it, her voice did a little jump and she went, “Josh!”
I turned and held Ixchel close until I could feel her heart beating against mine.
“Mission accomplished,” I whispered. “We’re both still here . . . we’re still together. That’s how it’s going to stay.”
Ixchel hugged me back and started to say something, but then she stopped and squeezed me even tighter.
The moment could easily have been ruined: someone else could have come by, a party might have got out of hand and spilled on to the streets, one of us could have got sad, thinking about the people we’d lost, but it didn’t and we didn’t and the moment was perfect and we stayed like that for ages, holding each other, and every word I said to her came from a place of ultimate truth inside me.
I opened my eyes and over Ixchel’s shoulder I saw sparks from the fireworks, a shower of them landing in the river. Light falling into water; the darkness swallowing all that brilliance. No one was there to see it but me.
As for this blog, it’s time to close The Joshua Files, because a place where I can get rid of all these things going on in my head is ultimately an escape. And I’m done with escaping. I only want to be here, now.
Thank you for reading APOCALYPSE MOON (The Joshua Files #5)
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Acknowledgements
Many thanks to my editors at Scholastic Children’s Books UK, Clare Argar and Jessica White for their enthusiasm and vigilance in helping me to complete Josh’s adventures in this final instalment. Grateful thanks to Alex Richardson and Alyx Price of SCB for taking such good care of me on publicity trips. To a collected gang of marvellous, inspired authors without whose constant support I would have no-one to hang out with in coffee shops or inflict with my latest ideas: especially Susie Day, Sally Nicholls, Bill Heine, Steve Cole, Lucy Coats and Mark Robson. Big hurrahs for my former editor Polly Nolan and lovely agent Peter Cox, both wonderfully supportive and talented and - luckily for me - still interested in my writing. Thanks also to all the readers and book bloggers who’ve supported the Joshua Files series, especially Jens Hildebrand for feedback on the manuscript and Darren Hartwell (The BookZone) and Vincent Ripley (Mr/ Ripley’s Enchanted Books).
Immense gratitude to Dr. Reba Bandyopadhyay of the Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, for advice on the astrophysics-y bits of Apocalypse Moon, without which I might as well have been writing about magic!
Eternal thanks must for to my daughters Lilia and Josie for being lovelier than strawberry cream cake, and my adorable husband David for his tireless work and energy. It can’t be easy to be married to an author- we don’t exactly let our minds inhabit the real world. Never mind the practical work of book-keeping, doing the taxes, computer technical support, marketing advice and keeping the household going when your wife disappears into a manuscript.
First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd., 2012
This electronic edition published in 2014 by Darkwater Books
An imprint of Harris Oxford Limited.
41 Cornmarket Street, Oxford, OX1 3HA
Text copyright © M. G. Harris, 2012
The right of M. G. Harris to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her.
eISBN 978-1-909072-12-1
A CIP catalogue record for this work is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical or otherwise, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express prior written permission of Harris Oxford Limited.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by Gareth Stranks
www.themgharris.com
M.G. HARRIS
M.G. (Maria Guadalupe) Harris was born in Mexico City but moved to England as a young child. Before becoming a writer, she wo
rked as a scientist and ran an Internet business.
On regular visits back to Mexico, M.G. became fascinated by Mayan archaeology and made several trips to Mayan ruins in Yucatan and Chiapas. One such trip planted the seed of the idea for The Joshua Files. While recovering from a skiing accident that resulted in a broken leg, she began writing Invisible City, the first book in the Joshua Files series, on a laptop next to the bed.
M.G. Harris is also the author of GEMINI FORCE ONE, a trilogy of adventure novels created from plans for a final project from THUNDERBIRDS creator, Gerry Anderson.. She writes for young adults as M.G. Reyes, and is the author of the EMANCIPATED trilogy about six Californian teenagers who are forced to turn to crime when their emancipated lifestyle falls apart.
When not wandering around the exotic settings for her novels, like Mexico, Brazil and the Swiss mountains, M.G. and her family live on a quiet street in Oxford
Praise for The Joshua Files
“An exciting adventure and coming-of-age story with plot twists and cliff-hanger chapter endings that will keep you up all night to finish.”
San Jose Mercury News
“It's the Mexican and Mayan flavourings that give Harris's adventure yarn that bit of extra bite as she weaves a satisfyingly twisty plot.”
Financial Times
“Josh's race to decode clues, sort out the good guys from the bad and his feats of derring-do make for an absorbing read.”
The Australian
“M.G. Harris proves she has a deft touch and a real skill for writing heart-stopping adventure in her code-cracking debut.”
Glasgow Herald
The Joshua Files on the Internet
Video trailers, articles and more at
themgharris.com
MG’s YouTube Channel
youtube.com/user/mgharrisauthor
Joshua Files on Facebook
fb.com/joshuafiles
MG’s blog
mgharris.net
The Descendant - An Alternate Reality Game
The mystery continues online.
Fourteen-year old Josh Garcia (of The Joshua Files) is troubled enough by his own adventures. But when his godfather PJ Beltran is murdered in Mexico City, Josh helps PJ’s 13-year old daughter to solve the mystery of his murder.
If you’ve enjoyed The Joshua Files or The Descendant then the Alternate Reality Game (ARG) will give you a whole new insight on the story, an early example of transmedia storytelling that includes websites, chatbots and blogs. This is your chance to eavesdrop on the characters online and stay ahead of the puzzle.
Your first clue?
Google where is Gabi Beltran
It’s as simple as that!