North of Beautiful (42 page)

“Terra Firma,” he repeats. At last, he slips his backpack off his shoulder. I know what he’s looking for.

I take a breath. “You don’t need your GPS for this cache.”

His eyes don’t move off mine; he’s watching me so carefully. “You don’t, huh?”

“Nope,” I say.

Some things are meant to be kept — what you learn from experiences good or bad, smiles from an orphaned girl, a boy who is your compass pointing to your True North. So I look Jacob full in the face with nothing obscuring him. Or me. And then I step closer to him. And closer. And closer yet.

“Here I am,” I tell him. “Here I am.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My thanks to all the wind deities who blew this novel in the right direction: Dr. Julie Francis and Janice Hendrickson for answering my every last question about port-wine stains; Lillian Thogerson and Lynn Gibson for their passionate commitment to complete families with children from around the world and for sharing their stories about orphanages in China; Francine Shore, for opening my eyes to the pentimenti of life and art; the artists at the Confluence Gallery for showcasing beauty in all its forms; and Bob Larson for giving me a masterful overview of the mapping industry. (Please note that while the China map written about in the novel is fictitious, I’ve taken care to ensure that the rest of the cartographic information and historical references are factual.)

A special shout-out to Mary Williams, the former coffee buyer at Starbucks and the reason why people worldwide experience truly exceptional coffee. She not only taught me to cup coffee properly (and to warn me never to rest my purse on the ground in a cupping room where people spit) but is a role model for living fearlessly. Any mistakes in the novel on any of these topics are mine alone.

I wish all writers had someone like Steve Malk to steer them with such unwavering faith, canny guidance, and a bolstering cup of green tea (no offense, Mary). I’m talking pep talks and well-placed jokes on weekends, holidays, and midnight. Lindsay Davis, you are a true and sparkly star.

Thanks to my Little, Brown constellation of goodness: Megan Tingley, Andrew Smith, Gail Doobinin, Rachel Wasdyke, Lisa Laginestra, Christine Cuccio, and Saho Fujii. And most especially, my heartfelt gratitude goes to Alvina Ling and Connie Hsu, whose incisive and sensitive editorial direction turned Terra Nullis into Terra Firma. You are the priceless maps I read carefully and follow closely and keep nestled in my heart.

Like all authors, I owe a litany of thanks to the best matchmakers on the planet — the passionate librarians, booksellers, and bloggers who get my books and so many others into the hands of the readers who need them most. In particular I would like to thank Nancy Pearl, Robin Willard and the entire Chicago Public Library and Teen Volume gang, Chauni Haslet, and Kathleen March. As well, the masterful writers Meg Cabot, Lisa Yee, Julie Anne Peters, Deb Caletti, K. L. Going, and Carolyn Mackler have been exceedingly good to me.

To my beloved Iron Goddesses of friends Janet Wong, Nicole Ueland, Shelli Cheng — and readergirlz Janet Lee Carey, Dia Calhoun, Lorie Ann Grover, Allie Costa, Jen Robinson, Jackie Parker, Miss Alexia, and Miss Erin — thank you for seeing the beautiful in me and my work, especially when I’ve been the most profoundly blind. Lydia Golston as well as Duaine and Vieno Lindstrom, you keep much more than our keys. Jessica and Fiona Saunders, Reid and Cameron Chen, Matthew and Christopher Headley: embrace the dragons and author your own adventures.

And finally to the best geocaching buddies on the planet — Robert, Tyler, and Sofia — you are my treasure, my True North, my Bhutan.